BIRDS OF PREY!! 30 ROCK!! SPORTS NIGHT!! SEINFELD!! SWAMP THING!! ANGEL!! BUFFY!! HercVault!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Published on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - 2:24am

BIRDS OF PREY!! 30 ROCK!! SPORTS NIGHT!! SEINFELD!! SWAMP THING!! ANGEL!! BUFFY!! HercVault!!

All 10 Seasons For $116.99!!

65% Off For 24 Hours!!
$11.70 Per Season!!
Seasons Sold Separatesly at $19.99-$24.99 Per Season

Yesterday It Was $239.99!!
List Price Is $329.98!!

Birds of Prey: The Complete Series comes with all 13 episodes from the 2002-2003 WB series, plus the unaired pilot, plus all 30 mini-episodes of the “Gotham Girls” Web series.

“Prey” started strong with a pilot scripted by Laeta Kalogridis (“Alexander,” “Pathfinder”) but went off the rails following Kalogridis’ creative-difference-fueled very-early exit from the project.

Here’s the super-extra-nerdly thing I posted about the original unaired pilot the day the revised pilot aired on The WB:

Birds of Prey 1.1 FAQ

Is it any good?
Judging from the “old” pilot, the one Herc saw with Sherilyn Fenn and a different clocktower set, it is! There is much to recommend about this propulsive and well-considered new take on DC’s comic-book universe. Herc would even go so far as to suggest that the folks behind the “Birds of Prey” TV show did a better job of re-invention than the the powers at DC Comics did in the mid-1980s. It fits the WB’s successful youth-oriented formulas and takes the agreeable scissors-and-stapler approach to comic-book continuity that served the original “X-Men” cartoon series so well.

What’s TV’s “Birds of Prey” about?
In a nutshell: On the night Batman and Batgirl finally bust up the Joker’s crime ring, Batman spares the Joker’s life. Later that night, the Joker puts a bullet in Batgirl’s spine, and one of the Joker’s henchmen slaughters Catwoman. Months later, a despairing Batman disappears from Gotham City for good. Seven years later, the crippled Batgirl and the superpowered daughter of Batman and Catwoman team with a blonde psychic named Dinah to deal with the growing number of superpeople plaguing New Gotham.

Is this based on DC’s “Birds of Prey” comic book?
Very loosely. The main element borrowed from that title is the crippled former Batgirl, who continues to fight crime as “Oracle,” the wheelchair-bound brainiac headquartered in a Gotham City clocktower. But in the “Birds of Prey" comic, Catwoman still lives, Batman never retired, Oracle’s only regular partner is master martial artist Dinah “The Black Canary” Lance, and “The Huntress” is the daughter of neither Batman nor Catwoman (and she doesn’t have any superpowers). A lot of the elements in the TV series are borrowed from other comic-book tales, notably DC’s Earth-2 stories of the 1970s.

If it’s so different, why even call it “Birds of Prey”?
Maybe because it’s a far cooler title than “Gotham Girls” or “The Oracle and the Huntress.”

What was that about Earth-2?
Until the mid-1980s, DC Comics published stories set in an alternate universe dubbed “Earth-2.” All the “Golden Age” heroes DC introduced in the 1930s and ‘40s, like Jay “Flash” Garrick, Alan “The Green Lantern” Scott and Carter “Hawkman” Hall dwelled there. On Earth-2, Bruce “Batman” Wayne and Selina “Catwoman” Kyle eventually married and had a daughter named Helena Wayne. Helena grew up to become a successful lawyer. The night Selina was shot to death during a robbery, a shattered Earth-2 Bruce Wayne burned his Batman costume and retired from crimefighting. The equally shattered Helena subsequently transformed herself into the Batman-like Huntress and avenged her mother’s death.

Did the Joker cripple Batgirl in the comic books?
Yes, in one of the greatest Batman stories ever told - a one-shot written by supergenius storyteller Alan Moore titled “The Killing Joke.” In the comic, though, the Joker has no idea Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. (Barbara’s shooting was just one element in the Joker’s elaborate plan to drive her father, police commissioner James Gordon, insane.) In the “Birds of Prey” pilot, the Joker hisses, “Batgirl – past tense!” right after he fells the out-of-costume superheroine.

Okay, back to the “Birds of Prey” pilot. After Batman retires, does everyone learn Bruce Wayne was Batman?
No. In fact, most everyone thinks Batman never existed and is just an urban legend.

When Selina Kyle dies in the first scene of the pilot, does everyone know that she was also Catwoman?
A newscaster reporting on Selina Kyle’s death notes the “mysterious and beautful businesswoman” was once accused of leading a double-life as the jewel thief Catwoman.

Are Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle married when she dies?
Apparently not. Wayne doesn’t even know he has a daughter until Selina is murdered. (Helena’s last name in the series is Kyle.)

How do Barbara Gordon and Helena Kyle come to be partners?
Somewhere between Selina’s death and Batman’s retirement, Bruce Wayne gave Barbara full custody of Helena.

How does Dinah join the fray?
On the night Catwoman was killed and Batgirl was crippled, Dinah had a vision of them, and has literally dreamt of joining them ever since. Her psychic abilities eventually lead her to New Gotham, and to her future partners.

Since Batman and Catwoman don’t have superpowers, how come Helena does?
Actually, in this elseworld, Catwoman appears to have had superpowers. It should be established in a few episodes that Helena is “half-meta,” sharing both Catwoman’s superpowered genes and Batman’s non-superpowered ones.

Is there any question Helena is Batman’s daughter?
No. Both Barbara and butler Alfred Pennyworth confirm as much, and not much gets by these two.

What kind of superpowers does Helena have?
Like Jessica Alba’s character in “Dark Angel” (who also got a lot of assistance/guff from a wheelchair-bound character), Helena Kyle seems to have a lot of feline DNA rattling around inside. She can see in the dark and is pretty good with the leaping and climbing. On this latter front, she’s going to remind a lot of people of the girls in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

"Dark Angel"? Ew. Does The Huntress indulge the hopelessly dated “whack dope chillin” hip-hop argot that plagued the transgenic Max?
She does not.

Is Batgirl Barbara Gordon (as established in the 1960s TV show and comic books) or is she Barbara Wilson, niece of butler Alfred Pennyworth (as established in that piece-of-shit Joel Schumacher movie “Batman & Robin”)?
Barbara Gordon.

Is Barbara Commissioner Gordon’s daughter?
Her relationship to the elder Gordon, if any, is undisclosed in the pilot. The fate of the good commissioner is also not revealed in the pilot.

Is Barbara a librarian by day?
Her day job in the pilot is undisclosed. Unfilmed script pages, however, indicate that Barb teaches a high school computer lab when she’s not thwarting evildoers.

Unfilmed script pages?? What else was cut?
The pilot originally explored more of Barbara Gordon’s personal life; it’s established that she recently and reluctantly broke up with a handsome feller she was seeing for six months. When he presses her about why she left him, she said, “It’s not you.” Also? Cut script pages establish that Oracle’s HQ is situated atop New Gotham’s tallest building. And that Dinah’s last name as “Lance.”

Ah! So the blonde teen psychic named “Dinah” is actually Dinah Lance, the Black Canary?
Dinah has almost nothing in common with the comics’ Black Canary. The TV Dinah has no martial arts abilities, no criminal-debilitating scream, and no boyfriend named Ollie Queen. Bear in mind also that the comics’ Dinah Lance is a natural brunette and possesses no pyschic powers.

Why even call her Dinah at all?
In the “Birds of Prey” comic book, Dinah Lance, the Black Canary, is the Oracle’s regular partner. Also, we will learn a few episodes hence that Dinah’s mother, 38-year-old Carolyn Lance, was – unbeknownst to Dinah – a super-scream-wielding crime fighter named Black Canary. (Note that in current DC Comics continuity, Dinah Lance inherited her Black Canary superhero persona from her mother.)

Is Helena Kyle a lawyer?
She’s a bartender. Which is slightly odd, because she’s heir to the same Wayne forture that finances Barbara’s operations. (We chalk this up to profound abandonment issues.)

Why is it “New” Gotham?
In the comics, Gotham City recently suffered a devastating earthquake. The “New” may reflect that the series is set post-quake. (It's ludicrous, admittedly, but the best theory I've got.)

Are the terms “Huntress,” “Oracle” or “Black Canary” ever uttered?
“Huntress, it’s Oracle, do you copy?” says Barbara the first time we see her in the wheelchair. Nothing about canaries, however, black or otherwise, until the upcoming episode introducing Carolyn Lance.

Is Catwoman in costume when she dies?
No. And the extra they cast as her corpse looks a whole lot more like Michelle Pfeiffer than Julie Newmar.

Is the guy playing Alfred as good as we’ve heard?
He’s great, but one suspects people are just excited to see such a faithful rendering of the character. Alfred, after all, is the character in the “Prey” pilot most familiar to “Batman” fans.

Is it true the Scarecrow is the main villain of the pilot?
Sort of. “Birds of Prey” seems to be following “Smallville’s” lead when it comes to steering clear of colorful costumes, but the lead villian essentially uses the Scarcrow’s scare-potion power to get what he wants.

Is this fear-potion villain named Jonathan Crane?
No. The show seems to be changing the names of some of the classic Batman villains to keep fans of the comics from catching on too quickly.

Is “Birds of Prey” set in the same universe as “Smallville”?
Perhaps. There’s a reference to meteors perhaps being partly responsible for the growing plague of superhumans. But any crossovers may have to involve time travel; “Smallville,” we're guessing, is set years before “Birds of Prey.”

That police detective guy, Reese. Why does he look familiar?
Shemar Moore, who plays him, has been hosting “Soul Train” since 1999.

What’s good?
So many things. While the script takes the important parts of the “Batman” mythos pretty seriously, the Huntress character brings a lot of well-placed dark levity to the proceedings. The WB netlet catches a lot of flack for infusing its shows with alt-pop tunes, but Herc likes the technique; in this context, it lends special creedance to the idea that this is not the Gotham depicted in all those horrible “Batman” movies. The pilot is also good about keeping the Huntress, the only character who’s any good at fighting, from dominating the pilot too completely. (Not that the fighting isn’t great; wait till you see the supercool way the Huntress twists her torso into frame with the line, “I’m the Huntress. And you’re the prey.”

Is the pilot better, as some have said, than the “Batman” movies?
Yes. Herc, who loved “X-Men,” “Spider-Man,” the first two “Superman” movies, disliked to varying degrees all four of Warner’s “Batman” blockbusters, which he regards as disgraceful in terms of storytelling and character development. To say that “Birds of Prey” does a better and more respectful job with the Gotham mythos isn’t really saying much, but "Birds" certainly does.

Is the WB finally over aping “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”?
In no way. 1) Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Oracle’s stewardship over Gotham’s crime scene reminds one more of Rupert Giles than Charles Xavier or Niles Caulder. 2) The actress playing Dinah seems to be channeling some of Dawn Summers’ endearingly squirrelly enthusiasm. 3) The Huntress, between body-kicks, shares the slayer’s ambivilence about her role as thwartress of evil.

What’s not so good?
It’s hard to tell sometimes how seriously we should take the leads’ verbal sparring. Should we take Helena at her word when she talks about killing the bad guys? One sort of hopes so - after all, her life might be very different had the Batman just put the Joker out of his misery when he had the chance. In any case, a lot of the Huntress-Oracle dialogue Herc saw in the “old” pilot is said to have been revised and reshot. So perhaps this ambiguity has been addressed.

How does it end, spoiler boy?
In a way that cannot be revealed without inviso-text! In the pilot Herc saw it’s established in the final minutes that Quinn, the psychoanalyst appointed by a judge to help Helena with anger management, is psychotic. She carries on the Joker’s legacy just as the Huntress carries on Batman’s, and is responsible for all the villainy perpetrated in the pilot.

TV Guide said:

… Dark, deluxe and brimming with sensual danger, this lavish action-fantasy is a little stiff dramatically at the outset but has the potential for cult status. Purists may bristle at the changes from the comic-book mythology, but we lesser mortals can only thrill as these birds take flight. …

Variety said:

… After the success of the Frog's other superhero series, "Smallville," writer Laeta Kalogridis ("Lara Croft: Tomb Raider") further invigorates the concept with a femme-empowerment spin … With "Birds of Prey," Kalogridis has crafted a tidy concept, crossing an idol with a villain to make a new breed -- slightly naughty, definitely conflicted but with some serious kick-ass power. … Meyer brings a good deal of balance as the seasoned veteran, but as a trio, the actors and characters are clunky. The power of three has been done before, and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has the lock on using the supernatural experience as an analogy for real life. Perhaps the producers can learn from the demise of shows such as "Dark Angel" and realize that good looks and highly stylized action aren't enough. …

The Hollywood Reporter said:

… there's a new team of superheroes -- a trio that's tough, sexy and quite capable of rounding up any stray teen and young adult viewers in the time period. …a fine, fun and artfully executed fantasy action series. … Although each "Bird" is appealing in her own right, and they share solid chemistry, Scott's Huntress steals practically every scene in which she appears. Defiant one moment and vulnerable the next, Scott is the perfect choice for this action hero with attitude. … an episode that is both traditional and futuristic, combining the old-fashioned values of comic book heroes and the sensibility of contemporary youth culture. …

The Los Angeles Times said:

… Why would it succeed? Try self-mocking humor and gorgeous dominatrixes in leather. … Even though the caped Big Guy himself is somehow absent from New Gotham, "Birds of Prey" follows in the great tradition of superhero noir. It's grim, dark, smoky and, most important, ripping good fun as these butt-kicking Dynamic Dolls have themselves some nights on the town. …

Herc’s rating for the unaired pilot for “Birds of Prey”?
***1/2

The “Gotham Girl” shorts included in the new set run between two and five minutes each. The first two crudely animated seasons were comprised of stand-alone not-funny “comedies” featuring DC icons Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Batgirl and, less frequently, Zatanna. The much better and more dramatic final season forms one big 35-minute story about what happens after all the men in Gotham City mysteriously disappear; it traded Zatanna for a newer DC comic icon, Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya.

Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry